Since the Taliban returned to power there has been no shortage of crises facing Afghanistan. A humanitarian disaster is affecting millions of Afghans. Food insecurity is a major concern. Young girls are not allowed into schools. Transnational terrorist groups are operating across most of the country with impunity. Ethnic and religious minorities are routinely under attack. However, there is another […]

Official claims about the security situation in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), especially since the August 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, portray a vastly improved scenario. The Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai has said that terrorist incidents have significantly reduced owing to the government’s “well-coordinated and multi-pronged strategy.” The infiltration of terrorists from […]

Pakistan has ordered all undocumented immigrants, including 1.7 million Afghans, to leave the country by November 1, vowing mass deportations for those who stay. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar approved the plan Tuesday at a high-level meeting of his top civilian and military officials in Islamabad. “All illegal immigrants residing in Pakistan have until November 1 to return to their […]

China’s Armed Forces Are More Capable—but Beijing Feels Less Secure For months, all eyes have been on the high-level personnel turmoil in the Chinese military. Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has not been seen in public for weeks, raising questions about whether he still holds his position. Li Yuchao, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force, which […]

Recently, in Taiwan, the government unveiled its first home-built submarine. In Japan, the government will upgrade civilian airports and seaports to dual military use in preparation for conflict in Taiwan. The U.S. and allies maneuver to contain China, Russia, and North Korea, while the latter band together against the former’s economic sanctions and military threats. Both blocs test the strength […]

On August 28th, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks chose the occasion of a three-day conference organized by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the arms industry’s biggest trade group, to announce the “Replicator Initiative.” Among other things, it would involve producing “swarms of drones” that could hit thousands of targets in China on short notice. Call it the full-scale […]

Despite repeated promises of the Pakistani authorities, the arrest and harassment of Afghan refugees by the police in Pakistan continues, Afghan embassy in Pakistan said on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. Over the last two weeks, many Afghans have been arrested in different areas of Pakistan, especially in and around Islamabad, where the majority of documented refugees reside. “Day and […]

The anti-terror operation undertaken by Delhi Police’s Special Cell has led the cops to probe deeper into a sinister operation run by Pakistan’s ISI using Indian fugitives Farhatullah Ghori and his son-in-law, Shahid Faisal. The two men have been found to be radicalising and handling Indian Muslim youths in the name of the Islamic State.Ghori alias Abu Sufiyan and Faisal […]

The Contested Causes of Stagnation In “The End of China’s Economic Miracle” (September/October 2023), Adam Posen describes China’s recent economic challenges as a case of “economic long COVID.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “extreme response to the pandemic,” he posits, triggered “the general public’s immune response” and “produced a less dynamic economy.” Posen’s analogy is creative and insightful. But his diagnosis […]

On September 13, China’s newly appointed ambassador to Afghanistan, Zhao Xing, arrived at the presidential palace in Kabul to present his credentials to the acting prime minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Mohammad Hassan Akhund. Uniformed Taliban members welcomed him to the palace in a grand theatrical ceremony. While the Chinese foreign ministry deemed the appointment a ‘normal rotation’, […]